Management Styles and Impact on Employee Motivation - Essay Example

Management Styles and Impact on Employee Motivation Introduction: Being a manager brings a lot of responsibilities and using the right style of management can have a major impact on the overall performance of the teams as well as the business. There are a number of different styles of management that can be used to manage teams and each of them has a different impact on the teams and the business. There are styles which are people oriented while others are based on projects and products alone. The style of management that is adopted by a person is dependent on the skills and knowledge of the person and also the desired result that the individual plans to achieve from the teams (Locke, 1975). This paper deals with comparing and contrasting two such management styles and aims at discussing the impact of the style on employee motivation. The aim here is to find out what different management styles can do to the level of employee motivation. The paper will firstly discuss in brief the different styles of management and employee motivation, and the relationship of the two. The chosen styles here for this paper are Authoritative style of management and Participative management style. Management Styles: Managing people at work is an essential element of any business. Human Resources Management is a specialised function by itself and requires to be managed with special care and attention. Employees are an asset to any company. A few of the types of leadership styles which are normally used include: a) Authoritative leadership, b) Participative leadership, and c) Democratic (Kumar, 2006). Here the main focus is on the authoritative leadership and participative leadership. Authoritative leadership is a strategy used by the managers to keep complete control of the employees. Here managers do not trust the employees and are more of authoritative figures who give orders and do not consider any views or suggestions from the employees. This approach of leadership is based on the views of Taylor and those of McGregor’s theory X and Y. The leaders tend to take complete control of the employees and tend to be the decision makers with no involvement from the employees (Sparrow and Hiltrop, 1994). Participative management style is one where the managers work in sync with the employees and also keep the needs of the employees in mind while any decision making. Here there is a sense of group ownership that is portrayed and all the members work together in the organisation to reach shared goals. Also here the managers try to ensure that the employees are able to satisfy their inherent needs for self actualisation while working towards a set of common goals. However it is important to note that managers take the advice and involvement of the employees, yet the final decisions are made by the managers. Employee Motivation: One of the biggest factors that affect the morale of the employees is the leaders. Motivation is like a commitment and application of people at work. But all these mainly depend on leadership. Employee motivation is a very important aspect of management. Every individual has different motives in life (Podmoroff, 2005). These motives can affect the individuals behaviour at all times. Thus it is essential for managers to understand the needs of employees to ensure better performance within the organization (Huffman, 2006). Motivation is generally explored on the basis of three main aspects; a) Goals, b) Decisions, and c) Influence. Goals refer to the main motives for an individual’s behaviour. The various motives can vary from individual to individuals at different times (HR Management, 2009). Goals can vary from need for wealth, status and power. This can be understood better based on the content theories. Decisions refer to why people tend to work harder and what really motivates them. This is understood better based on the process theories that have been developed by various authors over the years (CGDA, 2008). Lastly the Influence factor refers to the various external and social factors that affect and motivate employees to work better and perform and contribute to the company (Gazendam, 1993). There are a number of different theories that have been developed to address the factors that influence the motivation of employees these will be discussed under the various enrichment theories. It is up to the managers to make sure that the needs of the employees are met and these can only be done when the managers use the appropriate management styles. Management Styles and Employee Motivation: As seen in the above explanation, the two methods are almost opposite each other and each of these is beneficial in their own ways. Listed below are the advantages and disadvantages of using these styles of leadership (De Bono & Heller, 2006). Management Style Advantages Disadvantages Authoritative Helps make quick decisions Useful in situations where employees are low skilled Can be very de – motivating as no form of communication or involvement with employees Creates an attitude of superiority and ‘looking down upon’ among the managers and employees Participative Cooperation allows better communication and interaction Workers are given importance and their views and suggestions are considered, hence very motivating Slows down the decision making process Considering employees within an organization, it is important to note that an effective manager is able to effectively get the best from the employees as well as ensure their needs are met. Various literatures over the past have explained that for employee motivation and building of employee morale, it is safe to say that ‘Teamwork’ plays a very important role (Management Styles, 2010). However it is essential that employees of a team are aware of how their individual work would affect the success of the team and thereby affect the working of the employees. Participative leadership has always shown relatively better results of employee motivation. One of the best examples here is that of Donald John Trump, the CEO of Trump Organization (Daguia, 2010). Being a participative leader allows the leader to take into account the employees and their views. Here the leaders act as facilitators rather than dictators (Management Styles – Authoritative, 2010). As explained in Maslow’s need theory every individual has nine main needs and motives to work. Maslow brings out a common need that almost every employee has of esteem, knowing and understanding, and freedom of enquiry and expression. It is essential that every employee takes up the responsibility to ensure that all steps are taken to ensure better employee motivation (Daft, 2005). As managers, it is important to keep the employees involved in the decision making processes and also in the basic development of the processes. This helps as the employees have a sense of ownership and have an inclination towards the goals of the company. Basic human tendency is such that if the needs are met then the person tends to perform better and stays motivated (CGDA, 2008). In the case of authoritative leaders, the employees are not given a chance to express their views and ideas and the ideas of the managers are thrust upon the employees. Here there is no scope to grow and develop and the employees have no say in any decision making or any processes within the company. Being a dictator allows the managers to keep up the discipline within the organisation but puts up major road blocks for the employees and their overall development. Creating blocks or hurdles in the lives of the employees and their career will not help in encouraging or motivating employees (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2004). Employees at every level prefer to have a creative freedom and like to participate rather than be dictated. Conclusion: Hence from the above discussion, it is clear that the participative leadership tends to be very effective and efficient way of leading people. The traits of participative leaders like, cooperation, coordination, communication and team work help the managers gain access to the employees and their needs. All these points help to ensure the employees are motivated and also ensure that the morale of the employees is boosted within the organization and that employees do feel the need to do something good for the company (Podmoroff, 2005). Once an employee relates to the company as its own the results and outcomes will see a drastic change and the company will see higher revenues as well. However, it is important to note that, motivation is not a magic (Trillin, 2008). It is a process which involves good analysis and thinking of the problems. Thus at any given point in time this should be carefully thought out and there is no cure all situation for motivation of employees. There are always loop holes where come employees require a different approach to be motivated to work better. It is essential to note that the human resources play a very important role in the company and the overall level of motivation of the employees can have a direct impact on the productivity of the company (Weightman, 2004). The managers play a very important role in the organizations and the motivational levels of an employee is directly related to the kind of manager that they work under. In conclusion, as seen in the above discussion, it is clear that the participative leaders tend to be more effective in motivating the employees as the approach involves good levels of involvement of the employees and also helps the manager create a very interesting and participative work environment (Beer, et.al, 1985). 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